The Continuity training thread

menoscemo

menoscemo wrote: »

I don't see the problem with running 15 miles over 2 easy days however don't neglect warm up and cool down for sessions. Unless they are very short sessions it would be unusual to get one wrapped up inside 5 miles with a good w/u and c/d included (say 2 miles either side). Then you would have 2 session days for 7-8 miles which would only leave you with only 10-12 miles to cover in your 2 easy days...

Actually despite what I was saying above, maybe it would be unwise to do 2 sessions/week if 'only' averaging 40 miles?? Could be too high a % of overall miles? Perhaps 1 session would be better.
I am sure EcolII will clarify his thoughts on this.

pointer28

menoscemo wrote: »

Actually despite what I was saying above, maybe it would be unwise to do 2 sessions/week if 'only' averaging 40 miles?? Could be too high a % of overall miles? Perhaps 1 session would be better.
I am sure EcolII will clarify his thoughts on this.

I know Jack Daniel's sets weekly % limits on how much of your weekly mileage should be spent at each pace eg no more than 7% of weekly total at I pace, 10% at T pace etc.

Last year I ignored this rule and got injured, this year I listened to his advice and didn't.

Edit to add: the 7% and 10% are just random numbers for example, I can't remember the exact figures, so don't take them as right.

Krusty_Clown

Just a quick note to say thanks ecolii. Got through the two sessions and they were exactly what I needed, in terms of a return to proper training, after 4 months of marathon-specific work. On Tuesday I did the 24x30/30 on a soft undulating forest and field track, that I reckon will help build some strength ansd resilience for some upcoming XC races. Given the atrocious weather and awful underfoot surface, the pace was a long way off 5k, but it was all about effort and simulation so I didn't pay the pace any heed.

Today I did the 20 minutes at tempo (as part of a 9.7 mile run). Based on my recent marathon, my vdot suggested 5:37/mile for a tempo pace, so I set the watch to keep my pace around 5:35 - 5:45/mile, as again, I'm just returning and don't want to push too hard. The route for the tempo section was slightly favourable (30m drop over the 3.55 miles) but managed a pretty comfortable 5:38/mile, despite some later hills and head-wind. Average HR was 159, which felt about right, given the lack of tempo work in the last 4-5 weeks.

Will wrap up the week on 70 miles and will keep it around that level for the next few weeks. Looking forward to next week's installment!

skeleton_boy

This has been a great thread to read so far. After my disaster in Dublin, my immediate desire was to jump right back into training for a spring marathon. However the more I think about it, I'm contemplating not racing any marathons in '15 and instead building towards becoming a more well rounder runner. Problem is I've no idea how to actually plan that out so this thread has come at an ideal time. Will be following with interest.

Have been back doing easy runs this week. Will give the diagonals a go early next week as a reintroduction to speedwork.

TRR_the_turd

Followers of the continuity thread. You may be worried by the fact that ecoli has seemed to be not continuining this thread. The irony of this is quite amusing to me! You may be wondering where the two new sessions for this week are!!

Never fear. Ecoli part deux will be back soon. He was away in London for the weekend with his "boys", checking out the "scene". I think he may have had a few fizzy drinks too many. Normal service should continue tomorrow.

Now, continue on

ECOLII

Sorry about the delay folks haven't had a chance to get to a computer earlier today to post up this weeks sessions

Session 1

Fartlek - 1-3 mile warm up followed by

2 minutes hard, 2 minutes easy
1 minute hard, 1 minute easy
3 minutes hard, 3 minutes easy
1 minute hard, 1 minute easy
2 minutes hard, 2 minutes easy

1-3 mile cooldown (depending on weekly mileage)

First off for the purists yes this is not exactly fartlek as the whole point of it is unstructured however fartlek is a good term to use with regards running more by feel over varying amounts of time again usually based on feel. For the sake of keeping this sort of training sessions in a coherent manner though I have set this as a prescribed on to fit in with overall idea

Paces:
hard - 3k-10k effort
easy - MP - Easy pace

The greaat thing about this type of session is that you can tailor the intensities to suit where you are in your training. They can be a great base phase type session if you keep the intensities at the lower end on hard and the upper end of easy or you can reverse that and they can be a great tune up session. Also a good one to use if you don't have a designated distance for intervals as a replacement as well as getting used to running by feel

Session 2
1-3 mile warm up,
4x10 min @ MPE with 90 seconds recovery
1-3 mile warm up

This one is a take on what are called cruise intervals effectively this can be a good way to change up tempo runs from time to time. The idea is that by keeping the recoveries very short you can keep the HR high enough that you are able to get close to the same effects of a tempo even with recoveries allowing you to reduce injury risk or drop in pace due to sustained effort allowing your HR to creep up a little higher as the effort goes on.

I would say that they don't replicate a tempo entirely and there is no replacement for specificity both mentally in a tempo and physically but it can be a good way to break the monotony once in a while or provide a bit of a mental boost by being able to hit slightly quicker paces at the right effort level for the session every once in a while to give it's own bit of a mental boost. It can also be used invaluably in terms of setting up a training plan, not every session has to be of equal intensity (i.e the 2 sessions a week don't have to be equally hard and only having lighter ones coming up to a taper) sometimes it is important to put more emphasis on one session in the week and the other acts as a supplimentary one without just being a tick the box exercise.

For the questions above that I have answered I will get to these tomorrow and give my own thoughts as best I can

ECOLII

TRR_the_turd wrote: »

Followers of the continuity thread. You may be worried by the fact that ecoli has seemed to be not continuining this thread. The irony of this is quite amusing to me! You may be wondering where the two new sessions for this week are!!

Never fear. Ecoli part deux will be back soon. He was away in London for the weekend with his "boys", checking out the "scene". I think he may have had a few fizzy drinks too many. Normal service should continue tomorrow.

Now, continue on

Sooner than you think if only my typing dexterity had been a little better :P

Krusty_Clown

ECOLII wrote: »

Session 2
1-3 mile warm up,
4x10 min @ MPE with 90 seconds recovery
1-3 mile warm up

First session ticked off yesterday. What's this MPE business? Marathon-pace effort? 90 seconds recovery - fully recovery (i.e. rest) or easy jog?

SamforMayo

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

First session ticked off yesterday. What's this MPE business? Marathon-pace effort? 90 seconds recovery - fully recovery (i.e. rest) or easy jog?

I am glad you asked, I assumed everyone else knew and did nt want to shame myself!

ECOLII

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

First session ticked off yesterday. What's this MPE business? Marathon-pace effort? 90 seconds recovery - fully recovery (i.e. rest) or easy jog?

That was in relation to a point Meno made previously.

Yes it's marathon paced effort basically the effort level which would be similar to how you feel mid marathon (after the adrenalin and the freshness of the taper wear off and before the struggle-bus of those last 6 miles)

This is where a bit of common sense comes in. If you get a rush of blood on the day and think you are Declan Mofatt from Glenamaddy (Tommy Tiernan reference for anyone in the dark) don't take your pre blow up pace as your MPE, likewise if you are reduced to a walk it doesn't mean the averaged out time is hard enough either be sensable, the aim should feel like by the end of the session you are working hard enough but you also have recover quickly in the aftermath of the session and feel somewhat invigorated by the effort if that makes sense.

Ideally jogging is best as you are aiming to keep your HR from dropping too far. Personally i am not a fan of stop breaks on any sort of session from 3k up to be honest

ECOLII

@Weetabix

In terms of sessions the general figures tend to be 80% easy running in any week and 20% quality. I would say though that this should be closer to 7-15% if you are relatively new to the sport and (i.e first 18 months to 3 years) or are aerobically lacking (this is not a negative description because to be honest very few aren't aerobically lacking to some degree) you are getting most of your stimulus simply from building this base and time on your feet.

Take a 40 mpw runner as an example (following on from the original scenario) this would mean that the guidelines would generally be set at 8 miles of quality a week on average not including warm up and cooldown. Depending on their level this could be achievable in say the following scenario

6x1km @3k-5k pace w/ equal recovery
and
4 mile tempo @ HMP

This would look fine in some plans depending on ability. If a 25 min 5k runner did this sort of session it would be completely different to a 15 min 5k runner

25 min: 6x5 min @ 5k pace

In order for a 15 min guy to run the same session they would have to be running roughly as follows:

6x1 mile @3k-5k pace

This would be way too hard a session at that intensity

This is where obviously you have to be sensible and adjust generic plans both in relation to your own average weekly mileage but also you own ability.

Depending on the session you may be able to increase volume of lower intensity sessions. I wouldn't drop a session as you want enough stimulus in the week to adapt from but with one session it means that you wont have a whole lot of work done at higher intensity for the sake of a few extra easy miles

If you keep the intensity levels right you can make 40 mpw work (again taking example from Previous

Take a 20 min runner

Monday OFF
Tuesday Session (2 mile warm up, 6x800m (3 minutes approx), 2 mile cooldown) (8)
Wednesday 6-7 miles easy (7)
Thursday OFF
Friday Session (2 mile warm up, 4x7 min @ HMP w/ 2 min jog, 2 mile cooldown) (8)
Saturday 6-7 miles easy (7)
Sunday 12 miles easy (12)

Total Weekly mileage : 42 miles
Session miles : 7

As you gain more knowledge of training you will learn to manipulate sessions to suit your level (i.e time ranges and distance covered in relation to current mileage and performance abilities) but it is better to be well rounded on lower mileage than focus too much on the mileage

Thought there are a few exceptions (KC and ultrapercy coming to mind) there are plenty of the high mileage guys who started from well rounded bases or backgrounds before going down that route. It's something that people tend to forget when looking at many of the sub 2.40/2.50 guys and the way they are training now

Krusty_Clown

Right. This week's sessions all done and dusted. Have a mountain race next Saturday, so if you have anything in your little black bag of magic tricks suitable for a three hour muddy, rocky slog, fire it on!

ECOLII

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

Right. This week's sessions all done and dusted. Have a mountain race next Saturday, so if you have anything in your little black bag of magic tricks suitable for a three hour muddy, rocky slog, fire it on!

Funny enough I was only looking at sessions there, next week is more aimed at a technical aspect rather than an energy system type session but 2 of the 3 options did have a hill element to them so I will probably look towards them instead, mind you the sessions themselves I am pretty sure you are familiar with (Lydiard/Magness circuit type work)

ECOLII

Another week been and gone, hope people are finding these sort of sessions useful

This week session is slightly different in that we will aim at developing running form and muscle fibre recruitment in a slightly different way. We all look at reps/tempo's /runs etc as a way of improvement but often muscle fibre recruitment, neurological pathway development and general run specific strength and conditioning seem to get overlooked so every few weeks I will throw in something along the lines of this in order to widen the scope a little

This weeks session 1 is based around Steve Magness idea's on hill circuits. If possible you want to find a hill which roughly you can have a constant climb for about 3-4 minutes

Session 1
4 sets of

10 burpees
40 sec easy running
10 secs high knee lifts(uphill)
30 sec easy running
10 seconds bounding (uphill)
40 sec easy running
15 seconds on the spot bunny hops
10 sec sprint (uphill)

Recovery should be 3-4 min jog back down recovery

Not only will this help in terms of general strength but aerobically its not a bad work out either

Session 2

90 minute progression - 40 minutes easy, 30 min steady, 20 minutes MPE

This is to replace your long run and all continuous running. Can be a great way to boost your aerobic capacity


Any questions feel free to ask

paddybarry

ECOLII wrote: »

Another week been and gone, hope people are finding these sort of sessions useful

This week session is slightly different in that we will aim at developing running form and muscle fibre recruitment in a slightly different way. We all look at reps/tempo's /runs etc as a way of improvement but often muscle fibre recruitment, neurological pathway development and general run specific strength and conditioning seem to get overlooked so every few weeks I will throw in something along the lines of this in order to widen the scope a little

This weeks session 1 is based around Steve Magness idea's on hill circuits. If possible you want to find a hill which roughly you can have a constant climb for about 3-4 minutes

Session 1
4 sets of

10 burpees
40 sec easy running
10 secs high knee lifts(uphill)
30 sec easy running
10 seconds bounding (uphill)
40 sec easy running
15 seconds on the spot bunny hops
10 sec sprint (uphill)

Recovery should be 3-4 min jog back down recovery

Not only will this help in terms of general strength but aerobically its not a bad work out either

Session 2

90 minute progression - 40 minutes easy, 30 min steady, 20 minutes MPE

This is to replace your long run and all continuous running. Can be a great way to boost your aerobic capacity


Any questions feel free to ask

Is steady the midpoint between easy and MPE?

Duanington

So the 2nd session replaces the long run ECOLII - I get that but would you recommend doing so every 2nd\3rd week or something?

Krusty_Clown

ecolii wrote:

10 burpees
40 sec easy running
10 secs high knee lifts(uphill)
30 sec easy running
10 seconds bounding (uphill)
40 sec easy running
15 seconds on the spot bunny hops
10 sec sprint (uphill)

Shouldn't that be 'steady' instead of 'easy'? Or are you starting easy and moving to steady on later iterations of this session?

ECOLII

paddybarry wrote: »

Is steady the midpoint between easy and MPE?

Yes roughly the aim is about half way between the two

Duanington wrote: »

So the 2nd session replaces the long run ECOLII - I get that but would you recommend doing so every 2nd\3rd week or something?

I would tend to do have a long run replace a session when you add quality. This changes the focus of the long run from supplementary as it has been to the sessions in previous weeks to a primary focus to ensure than adequate recovery is given around the session. Depending on the athlete this might be as much as every second week but for the purpose of this thread will probably be every 3-4 weeks

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

Shouldn't that be 'steady' instead of 'easy'? Or are you starting easy and moving to steady on later iterations of this session?

Given this is will for many be an introduction to this style of work I think emphasising the bio mechanical aspects over the aerobic development element. The focus being on form this time but as people develop they will be able to manipulate it to a more aerobic specifc session by increasing intensity from easy to steady

kit3

Just wondering what you thoughts are on cross training. I'm commuting on the bike (generally about 50/60 miles per week over 4/5 days) and feel my general fitness has improved but was wondering how much benefit it is to running, if that makes sense

ECOLII

kit3 wrote: »

Just wondering what you thoughts are on cross training. I'm commuting on the bike (generally about 50/60 miles per week over 4/5 days) and feel my general fitness has improved but was wondering how much benefit it is to running, if that makes sense

Good question

As you mentioned your general fitness will improve and if general fitness is something which is lacking overall then improving this will have correlation with your running. The only issue I would have with cross training is that it is not specific to the sport, it does not use the same muscles in the same ways and as such some of the energy pathway and muscle fibre recruitment aspects of training won't be satisfied.

If it is supplementary however rather than a substitute then I would say it is definitely worth doing.

For running fitness I would prioritise benefits as follows

Running>Cross Training>Doing nothing

There are many example of good correlation however of Triathletes and their run times which I would probably put down to the fact that they can run at higher intensity with less volume and manage to still get enough low intensity work done through their biking.

kit3

Thanks EcoliI - for me it is supplementary - anything is better than the bus - love the head space too. Means a lot of my runs (lunchtime ) are on tired legs !

Krusty_Clown

Did 'session 2' on Tuesday, and found it to be a bit of a bruiser. Tucking into 3.5 miles at marathon pace after 11 miles at easy/steady pace, you kind of wonder how the hell you managed to hold this pace for 26 miles, just 4 weeks earlier! I wasn't feeling very well afterwards though, so I think the session just happened to overlap with a brief bout of ill health. Will skip session 1 in favour of Saturday's 16 mile hill mountain race, as there'll be more than enough bounding, hopping, bunny hops and knee lifts to keep me going.

Good sessions ecolii. Keep 'em coming..

ECOLII

Dunno if there much interested but I'll keep going for now.

Be interested to get some feedback from people on how they are finding the sessions so far, whether the overall layout feels like it is coherent and progressive enough

Here is this weeks sessions

Workout 1

1-3 miles warm up
6 minutes @ HMP
3 min recovery
5 minutes @ HMP
2.30 recovery
4 min @ 10k pace
2 minutes recovery
3 minutes @ 10k pace
90 sec recovery
2 minutes @ 5k pace
1 minute recovery
1 minute @ 5k pace
1-3 mile cooldown

(Or for easier reading 6,5,4,3,2,1 min w/1/2 jog recovery @ HMP/10k/5k paces)

This is a good session using after a good aerobic strength block as you are transitioning to allow your body to run at quicker paces than you have been training for in your previous M/HM cycle or indeed a base phase.

It also acts as a good session for working on aerobic development as you have effectively 20 minutes of HM or faster running within 30 min of constant running.

Sessions of a progressive nature can be a good way to transition to running at quicker paces or to introduce your body to the physiological demands.

Session 2

This is a one which I use with many of my athletes at different stages of training and find to be particularly useful

2 miles easy
5 min @ HM Effort
5 min easy
10 min @ MP Effort
5 min easy
5 min @ HMP
2 miles easy

This is a great session to be added in base phase, the recoveries are quite generous for the effort level but it's a way of allowing the legs get the legs used to running at slightly higher effort levels before going into specific training.

There is a common misconception that base building means easy slow mileage but it is not harm to add bits of higher quality work (Steady running, MP and even 5k to HMP effort) the focus should be on making sure the recovery segments are sufficient that though you are training at higher intensities, the recoveries are sufficient enough to make this sort of work not taxing.
This means that the body can transition into specific training easier without overcooking it in the base phase.

This type of session can also be used to supplement a key workout. This is also a point I want to stress, each session doesn't have to be of equal value so if you have a really hard session one week that is a milestone workout sometimes it is good to have that as the key focus of the week and have the other session as a form of higher quality maintenance.

If you are running close to 60mpw average I would change this session to miles rather than time effort for a total distance of 10 miles for the session

pconn062

ECOLII wrote: »

There is a common misconception that base building means easy slow mileage but it is not harm to add bits of higher quality work (Steady running, MP and even 5k to HMP effort) the focus should be on making sure the recovery segments are sufficient that though you are training at higher intensities, the recoveries are sufficient enough to make this sort of work not taxing.
This means that the body can transition into specific training easier without overcooking it in the base phase.

This type of session can also be used to supplement a key workout. This is also a point I want to stress, each session doesn't have to be of equal value so if you have a really hard session one week that is a milestone workout sometimes it is good to have that as the key focus of the week and have the other session as a form of higher quality maintenance.

If you are running close to 60mpw average I would change this session to miles rather than time effort for a total distance of 10 miles for the session

Very interested to hear more about this. Was only thinking about base building today and how I'm going to approach it. Don't want to disrupt this thread here so will start a new thread on the main forum.

ECOLII

pconn062 wrote: »

Very interested to hear more about this. Was only thinking about base building today and how I'm going to approach it. Don't want to disrupt this thread here so will start a new thread on the main forum.

I would say here is as good as anywhere to be honest without a bit of discussion this thread could get fairly barren

pconn062

ECOLII wrote: »

I would say here is as good as anywhere to be honest without a bit of discussion this thread could get fairly barren

Fair enough!

So, essentially I am trying to put together a base building plan with a long term view towards the outdoor track season next year (with the 1500m/mile being the target event). I will be discussing this with my coach but for now I am trying to put a rough plan together myself. Your point about base building not being just running lots of easy miles is an interesting one. I read in Joe Rubio's middle distance guide that in true base building stage you should be aiming (in most cases if you are feeling good) to finish your easy runs at a decent clip. His point essentially is that you need to boost the aerobic benefit you are getting from these runs and not fall into the trap of just running easy the whole time.

Individual runs of 20-120+ minutes per day on dirt and in the hills as
much as possible, 6-7 days per week. Unless a recovery run, the
pace for the last 25-75% of the run should be at 70-80% of your
current 5k fitness level (listed as AE pace). This shouldn’t be forced
and definitely NOT faster than 80%, but it should be monitored and
serve as a goal for the spring.

Now I know his guide is designed for elite college level runners but I think the point still stands for joggers like us. During this true base building stage he also has his runners doing three sessions a week: a speed maintenance day faster that 1500m pace day), a 1500m specific day (or hills) and a slower day (5/10k pace, tempo). Now specifically, in my case I won't be doing 3 sessions week (I would break down) but just to give a detailed plan of what he suggests.

However he suggests preceding this phase with a period of non-intense aerobic base-building where the emphasis is not on pace but rather establishing new mileage targets. Essentially getting the body ready for doing the same mileage later (or slightly less) with the increased intensity of sessions.

So to my point (at last!), what are you opinions on this pre-true base building phase. Lots of easy running or would you incorporate other elements (strides go without saying but maybe some fartlek?). Also, how long would you suggest for establishing new mileage targets? I currently run about 50 miles a week but would be hoping to set 60 miles as my new weekly target. Is it a case of building up as slowly as you can, before you need to think about switching to more intense work. Would be interested in people's opinions.

ECOLII

Personally I feel that the non-aerobic intense base building phase should include variants for a number of reasons;

1) I think pace changes within a week are important for prepping the body for the training cycle to come. If you spend majority of time at one pace you body will do what it does best, adapt and become efficient in the demands being placed on it, the only problem is then it makes it harder to transition well into the pre comp phase of training when you start to get down to sessions (what Rubio would call (True base phase)

2) Mentally I think it makes it easier if you have the same sort of training layout in early stages as you would in more specific stages of training i.e 1-2 quality days, long run other easy days etc. This is more a personal thing

In terms of what components would I add to a true base building phase;

Steady State Run - I think these are great year round and at this stage of training are great to treat as a quality day. Its higher end aerobic work without being intensive and I think can be used well 1-2 times a week running roughly the same distance as you would a normal easy day at slightly higher pace (Normally I say roughly half way between easy pace and Marathon Pace)

Long Run - crucial part of bas building as long as you keep it in proportion with the rest of the week

Turnover - You should always keep the legs in touch with speed and there is no reason why you can't have faster stuff added such as strides or even 200s. Normally I would add these twice a week after easy runs. The big emphasis is on recovery though this is not a session so complete recovery is key as well as keeping these reps short enough that you are not taxing energy systems. 4-6 x 100-200m strides/reps are fine but I would give double to treble recovery (wouldn't wear a watch just ensure you are fully recovered

Non Intensive Tempo work There is no reason why you can't add MP miles or HMP for that matter. Sprinkling them into an overall week can be good the session I mentioned before is a decent on as are cruise intervals with longer than normal recovery. Another one I am fond of is finishing you Long run with a mile @ HMP/MP or progression runs finishing no quicker than MP. Trick is here like the turnover stuff that the focus is on recovery, you are not aiming on intensive sessions to improve specific systems but rather exposing the body to these sort of stresses in low intensity and durations so that you can transition into more specific training at a later date with ease as well as giving a small bit of an aerobic boost to your fitness during base phase.

Here can be an example of a base building 2 week cycle

Monday OFF
Tuesday Easy run + 4-6x200
Wednesday Steady Run
Thursday Easy Run + 4-6x200
Friday Easy
Saturday 8x800m @ HMP w/400 jog easy in between
Sunday Long Run

Monday OFF
Tuesday Easy run + 4-6x200
Wednesday Progression Run
Thursday Easy Run + 4-6x200
Friday Easy
Saturday Steady Run
Sunday Long Run w/ last mile @ HMP

pconn062

ECOLII wrote: »

Personally I feel that the non-aerobic intense base building phase should include variants for a number of reasons;

1) I think pace changes within a week are important for prepping the body for the training cycle to come. If you spend majority of time at one pace you body will do what it does best, adapt and become efficient in the demands being placed on it, the only problem is then it makes it harder to transition well into the pre comp phase of training when you start to get down to sessions (what Rubio would call (True base phase)

2) Mentally I think it makes it easier if you have the same sort of training layout in early stages as you would in more specific stages of training i.e 1-2 quality days, long run other easy days etc. This is more a personal thing

In terms of what components would I add to a true base building phase;

Steady State Run - I think these are great year round and at this stage of training are great to treat as a quality day. Its higher end aerobic work without being intensive and I think can be used well 1-2 times a week running roughly the same distance as you would a normal easy day at slightly higher pace (Normally I say roughly half way between easy pace and Marathon Pace)

Long Run - crucial part of bas building as long as you keep it in proportion with the rest of the week

Turnover - You should always keep the legs in touch with speed and there is no reason why you can't have faster stuff added such as strides or even 200s. Normally I would add these twice a week after easy runs. The big emphasis is on recovery though this is not a session so complete recovery is key as well as keeping these reps short enough that you are not taxing energy systems. 4-6 x 100-200m strides/reps are fine but I would give double to treble recovery (wouldn't wear a watch just ensure you are fully recovered

Non Intensive Tempo work There is no reason why you can't add MP miles or HMP for that matter. Sprinkling them into an overall week can be good the session I mentioned before is a decent on as are cruise intervals with longer than normal recovery. Another one I am fond of is finishing you Long run with a mile @ HMP/MP or progression runs finishing no quicker than MP. Trick is here like the turnover stuff that the focus is on recovery, you are not aiming on intensive sessions to improve specific systems but rather exposing the body to these sort of stresses in low intensity and durations so that you can transition into more specific training at a later date with ease as well as giving a small bit of an aerobic boost to your fitness during base phase.

Here can be an example of a base building 2 week cycle

Monday OFF
Tuesday Easy run + 4-6x200
Wednesday Steady Run
Thursday Easy Run + 4-6x200
Friday Easy
Saturday 8x800m @ HMP w/400 jog easy in between
Sunday Long Run

Monday OFF
Tuesday Easy run + 4-6x200
Wednesday Progression Run
Thursday Easy Run + 4-6x200
Friday Easy
Saturday Steady Run
Sunday Long Run w/ last mile @ HMP

Great post ecoli, lots of interesting ideas there. I had intended on doing strides like you suggest and making them a regular feature (have been neglecting them a bit recently). I was very much thinking of approaching it in a way that if I was feeling good on a particular day, then I would treat the run as a progression run and push on towards the end. Also, steady paced runs will be important too I believe. Going to take a down week next week and then might use your two week plan to get me going after that. Going to try and extend my long run out towards 15/16 mile as well, today's 12 and a bit miler is actually equaling my longest run of the year so far believe it or not. :P

Another question, how much time would you set aside for this phase? Is it a case of as long as possible? I would be planning on switching to the "true base phase" maybe around the start of February, so that would give me 6 weeks roughly of this kind of training. Is that long enough to be beneficial?

GoTheDistance

Hi ECOLII

You might remember that you outlined a nice training guide for me a few weeks back.


Month 1

Week 1 - 12 x 90 seconds @ 5k pace with 45 sec - 1 min jog recovery
Week 2 - 3 mile tempo @ HMP
Week 3 - 6 x 1k @ 10k pace with 2 min recovery
Week 4 - 50 minutes @ MP


I actually finished week 4 today.

I have just one question. I actually found the 50 minutes at MP probably the most difficult of them all (probably week 1 was 2nd toughest).

I was going to repeat Month 1 again for now to bring me to the New Year. Should I expect Week 4 to be 'easier' next time? What if I split it say into 2 x 30 minutes @ MP with 2 minutes rest?

I was lucky enough to have reasonably restful days before each session but i didn't always have 7 days between sessions.

Sorry that took so long to explain.

Thanks again for your continued devotion to this thread. Super. Much appreciated.

Netwerk Errer

While we're on the subject of base phase intensities. Would you change the intensity levels of this phase depending on the distance of your goal race?

Say you're base building for a marathon. Would you pull back on the LT element and run more steady state med-longs instead? The marathon specific phase is generally longer and usually has a targeted LT mesocycle so is there a need for much LT training before that. Or would you advise an extended base phase with a greater emphasis on LT when transitioning from base to specific?

And in a 5k and below base build, would you add more LT stuff because the focus is usually on vo2 max and sharpeners in the specific mesocycle?